tdebase/doc/kcontrol/keys/index.docbook

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<authorgroup>
<author>&Mike.McBride; &Mike.McBride.mail;</author>
<author>&Jost.Schenck; &Jost.Schenck.mail;</author>
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</authorgroup>

<date>2002-02-13</date>
<releaseinfo>3.00.00</releaseinfo>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>KControl</keyword>
<keyword>key bindings</keyword>
<keyword>bindings</keyword>
<keyword>shortcuts</keyword>
</keywordset>
</articleinfo>

<sect1 id="key-bindings">
<title>Shortcuts</title>

<sect2 id="key-bindings-intro"> 
<title>Introduction</title> 

<para>While most of the functionality offered by &kde; can be accessed
using a simple <quote>point and click</quote> interface, many people
prefer using the keyboard for some tasks.  Pressing something like
<keycombo action="simul"> &Ctrl;<keycap>F</keycap></keycombo> is often
just faster than moving your hands off the keyboard to the mouse,
opening the <guimenu>Edit</guimenu> menu and selecting
<guimenuitem>Find</guimenuitem>.</para>

<para> As different people have different preferences about keyboard
shortcuts, &kde; offers full customization of <quote>key
bindings.</quote> A key binding or shortcut is a combination of an
action with a key or a combination of keys.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="key-bindings-use">
<title>Use</title>

<para>In the Shortcuts control module you'll see a list of <quote>key
schemes,</quote> a list of key bindings in the currently selected
scheme and a frame where you can customize the currently selected key
binding. Also, you'll see a tab for <guilabel>Global
shortcuts</guilabel> and one for <guilabel>Application
shortcuts</guilabel>.</para>

<sect3 id="key-bindings-use-globapp">
<title>Global Shortcuts and Application Shortcuts</title>

<para><guilabel>Global shortcuts</guilabel> and <guilabel>application
shortcuts</guilabel> work just the same. Actually, in a certain way
application shortcuts are <quote>global</quote> as well. The only
difference is:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><quote>Global shortcuts</quote> are shortcuts for
actions that make sense even when no application is opened. These
shortcuts usually refer to actions like switching desktops, manipulating
windows etc.  </para></listitem> 
<listitem><para><quote>Application shortcuts</quote> refer to actions
that are often available in applications, such as Save, Print, Copy
etc.</para></listitem> 
</itemizedlist>

<para>Please note, that the application shortcuts configured here are
<emphasis>only</emphasis> the standard actions often found in
applications. Most applications will define their own actions as well,
for which you have to customize key bindings using the application's
key bindings dialog.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="key-bindings-use-confkeys">
<title>Configuring Key Bindings</title>

<para>Configuring key bindings is pretty easy. In the middle of the
key bindings control module you'll find a list of available
actions. If there's a key binding configured for that action you'll
find it right next to it. Just select the action you want to
configure.</para>

<para>After you've selected an action you'll notice that most of the
controls below the action list are enabled. There you can configure a
combination of keys or maybe no key binding at all for the selected
action.  </para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>No key</guilabel>: the selected action will not
be associated with any key.</para></listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Default key</guilabel>: the selected action
will be associated with &kde;'s default value. This is a good choice
for most actions, as &kde; comes with reasonable key bindings we have
thought about.  </para></listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Custom key</guilabel>: if this option is
enabled, you can create a key combination for the selected
action. Just select any modifiers (&ie; &Shift;, &Ctrl;, or &Alt;) and
then select a key: just click on the key symbol and after that press
the key you want to assign to this key combination.</para></listitem>

</itemizedlist>

<para>As with all control modules, your changes won't take in effect
until you click <guibutton>OK</guibutton> or
<guibutton>Apply</guibutton>. Click <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton> to
discard all changes.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="key-bindings-use-confschemes">
<title>Configuring Schemes</title>

<para>A key binding scheme is a set of key bindings that you can
select by name. &kde; comes with several pre-defined key binding
schemes. In addition to these bundled schemes, you will always see a scheme named
<guilabel>Current scheme</guilabel> that represents the set of key
bindings you are using right now (&ie; not the current settings you
are playing with, but what you've been using up to now). </para>

<para>When you are playing with the key bindings for the first time
you don't have to be afraid of changing the default bindings: &kde;
won't let you overwrite the defaults, so you can always switch back to
the factory presets. By choosing <guilabel>Current scheme</guilabel>
you can return to the set of key bindings you've been using up to
now. However, be careful not to select a scheme when you've made
changes to the key bindings you don't want to lose.</para>

<para>When you are satisfied with a set of key bindings you've
created, you may want to save them to a scheme of your own, so that
you can still experiment with the bindings and always return to a
certain scheme. You can always do this by clicking on the
<guibutton>Add</guibutton> button.  You will be prompted for a name
and then the new scheme will appear in the key schemes listbox. You
can remove your own schemes again by selecting a scheme and clicking
the <guibutton>Remove</guibutton> button. Click the <guibutton>Save
changes</guibutton> button to save any changes you have made to the
currently selected scheme. Note that you can not remove or save
changes to <guilabel>KDE default</guilabel> or to <guilabel>Current
scheme</guilabel>.</para>

<important><para>If you want to save your changes while a read-only
scheme is selected, you always have to add a new scheme first! If you
select one of your own schemes because you want to save the changes to
that one, the control module will switch to the key bindings of that
scheme, discarding your changes.</para></important> </sect3>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Modifier Keys</title>

<para>Different keyboards offer different sets of modifier keys.  A
&Mac; keyboard, for example, does not have a &Ctrl; key, and instead
has an <keycap>Option</keycap> key.  Here you can see what the
available modifier keys for the current keyboard are.</para>

<para>If you enable <guilabel>Macintosh keyboard</guilabel> the list
of modifiers will change.</para>

<para>If you have enabled the &Mac; keyboard, you can further enable
<guilabel>MacOS-style modifier usage</guilabel>, to make &kde; behave
more like &MacOS;.</para><!-- FIXME: well, that's rather non-explanatory, more here would be good -->

<para>Finally, you can change what a keypress sends to the &X-Server;
in the <guilabel>X Modifier Mapping</guilabel> section.  A common
example is to reconfigure the <keycap>Caps Lock</keycap> key, which is
rarely used, to be another &Ctrl; key.  This is especially nice if you
are a touch typist, as <keycap>Caps Lock</keycap> is much easier to
reach than either of the &Ctrl; keys on a standard keyboard.</para>

<!-- FIXME: what exactly is going on here... -->

</sect2>

</sect1>

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